Internationally acclaimed author makes her memoir, An Unlikely Evangelist, available for free download during the Father’s Day season
Middle Tennessee-based author and playwright, Paula K. Parker, is celebrating the Father’s Day season by making the eBook version of her emotion-laden memoir, An Unlikely Evangelist, available for free during the week before and the week following Father’s Day. “Since the book’s initial released, it has been my tradition to give the eBook version away during the Father’s Day season,” Paula explained. “There are no hoops to jump through and no coupons to fuss with. It’s available in all major eBook formats, exclusively through the Smashwords eBook Store.”
At 5:10 p.m. on Friday, March 1, 2013, Paula learned that her father had passed away. He died as he had lived, all alone, in the bar he managed in rural Oklahoma. Paula admits to having had a strained relationship with her father for years, one that had only recently begun to heal.
Paula’s father was not a religious man. The last time he set foot inside a church was the day she got married, more than 38 years before. She doubted there would be more than a handful of people at his funeral. She made the trek from Tennessee to Oklahoma to attend the funeral, not out of any need for closure, but because she didn’t want his passing to go unobserved.
She was stunned to discover the little chapel at the funeral home filled to capacity. She was even more surprised to discover she was something of a celebrity in that tiny community. Her father, who wouldn’t darken the doors of a church, had passed her books of Bible stories around to everyone who came into his bar, with the admonition to read them, pass them around, then bring them back.
Paula wrote the experience down in a short memoir called, An Unlikely Evangelist, and shared it with a few friends, including Monica Schmelter, host of the syndicated television show Bridges’ on the Christian Television Network. Monica encouraged Paula to share her story with as many people as possible.
“Father’s Day is usually thought of as a happy occasion for family gatherings,” Monica explained. “But not everyone has a great relationship with their dad. It can be a tough day for some people. Paula’s story is so encouraging and I believe it can bring healing to a lot of hurting people.”
Although Paula states she wrote her story down merely as a means of preserving her memory of the event, it was soon evident that its impact went far beyond her original intent. With more and more people asking for their own copy, Paula decided to publish An Unlikely Evangelist to encourage others to reach out and heal the breach that may have occurred between family members while there is still time.
Author/Playwright Paula K. Parker
“My friend Jason Gray wrote an amazing song, Nothing is Wasted, which